LEMON

The oracle smiled. 8220;Meat. What you need is protein.8221;

8220;But I8217;m a vegetarian!8221;

Had I been less of a lady, I8217;d have punched him. Or them. But the thing called common sense is never so common.

Forget sense. Mere gluttony works sometimes. Plus, I had not been so docile in my day.

Seven years ago, when I had joined my first gym and the trainer started reading me the riot act, I had screamed. Not fainted. And she had only dared suggest that I 8220;go easy8221; on eggs and mangoes. No ban. Not on seeds, not on fruits in general. Not rice. Or oils. And we had come to a consensus that I eat everything, but in small portions. Not more than one helping, in fact.

8220;Never stay off anything altogether. That increases a craving for foods you like. And one day you8217;ll just let go and binge, which is more harmful than eating small portions regularly. And the body needs a balanced diet,8221; she told me.

The strategy worked. And in the next five months, I lost over eight kgs. That8217;s super-slow, so far as 8220;progress8221; goes as my trainer informed me, there are girls who lose one kg a week. And therein lies the problem.

Almost every first-timer to a gym, expects results overnight. Hence the big thrust on diet and in comes your neighbourhood trainer, who tells you to go off everything for quicker results. Then, after a point, you either give up the diet, or the gym, or both. Or follow instructions rigorously and wind up in a hospital with a damaged digestive system. Yes, that happens too. But more on that some other time.

So how much should you reasonably lose with a sensible, everything-included moderate diet? It depends on your individual metabolism. In fact, the saying goes, that the taller you are, the faster you burn calories. But on an average, one can safely lose upto two kgs a month, with a one-hour five-day exercise week. Anything more and you might be heading for trouble.

This again slows down to a stately 1 kg after the second month, when your body gets used to exercise. And then, it stops altogether unless you change exercises, that is, if you still want to lose.

If you want to maintain the reduced weight, you should change exercises and reduce days. Or go for a different exercise regime altogether, like swimming or aerobics if you are into weight-training, or vice versa. This is where a good trainer can again give you the right advice.

So how would you know if the trainer of your neighbourhood gym is any good? Trainers are not doctors, who have taken the Hippocratic oath of 8220;Do no harm8221;. But a checklist of these seven points will help ensure that you are not in wrong hands.

1. Does the trainer have time to talk to you?

2. Have you been asked what are your aims in joining a gym?

3. Have you been asked about your medical history and lifestyle?

4. Have you been told what your ideal weight should be on basis of your BMI body mass index and modify your expectations if need be?

5. Have you been given a pulse/BP check at the very least?

6. Does the trainer try to get an idea of your work/family pressure and the demands on your time before he/she advises you on the kind of exercise you need?

7. What kind of diet advice are you being given? A casual chat should be revealing.

All lights being green, there8217;s only one thing that8217;s certain. Maybe you will get the figure you want8230; one day. But you won8217;t ruin your health in your search for it. Happy exercising.